Showgrounds as a venue

[cos789]

There is much discussion elsewhere as the new showgrounds as a venue
for Australian Football . There's a few photos of some SFL sides playing there .
Looks quite good from the photos .
More specifically the discussion is about the proposed West Sydney side
playing it's smaller games there . Any thoughts or experiences .

.

[Norris Lurker]

It's had a bit of discussion on BigFooty in the last week or so, stemming from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald recently suggesting it as a possible venue for the new AFL team's non-blockbuster games.

From a local footy perspective, I thought it had great potential when they played a few games there last season. The surface was excellent, the facilities were good. The playing area was on the small side, but if they could grass over the track that would solve that problem.
It won't be hosting any local footy games this season - I suspect it didn't come cheap. But if the AFL's paying for it....

As an AFL venue, it could possibly work. Although even for non-blockbuster games, it may be a bit small - I'd estimate the capacity at about 16,000, and of that 5,000 would be standing room on the grass terraces. Bigger than what's suggested for Blacktown, and in a much easier to access location; but would it be big enough?